


Amortentia

by MellodramaticLawliet



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, love potion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-10-10 15:09:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10440570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellodramaticLawliet/pseuds/MellodramaticLawliet
Summary: It's their eighth ear at Hogwarts, and Pansy and Ginny concoct a plan to set up Harry and Draco involving love potions, hexes, and other annoying best friend antics.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is based on a tumblr post I saw a while back

 

 _Amortentia_. Draco thought scathingly, barely keeping the scowl from registering on his face.

It was their Eighth year at Hogwarts, and after his role in the war the previous year, he really couldn't afford to allow his sour attitude to drive away even more of his classmates. No matter how irritating Professor Slughorn could be.

Being one of very few Slytherins to return to the castle that year Draco was forced to swallow his pride; deep down he knew that they deserved some of the abuse they received from the other students, but it was best not to do anything to provoke it. Being a "sourpuss" as Pansy had put it, only gained him more distrust from everyone around him.

As he mulled this over he nearly missed it as Granger's hand flew into the air.

"Um, Sir?"

Slughorn turned from the chalkboard and raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's just that... We've already done this potion before." She frowned, ignoring Weasley's insistent tugging on the sleeve of her robes. Potter on the other hand, had his head propped up on one fist, seeming oblivious to the rest of the class; which Draco noticed with a twinge of annoyance.

"It's called review, Miss Granger. I daresay you've heard of it." Slughorn chuckled, "Now get to work everyone, I'll forego an extensive explanation of the procedure considering, as Miss Granger has so kindly reminded us, you all have experience with this particular potion." he winked at the class, inspiring a wholehearted groan in response, and much grumbling toward Hermione for reminding him.

Draco stayed in his seat, twirling a quill in his fingers and waiting for everyone to pair up; being the odd one out in a class without any of his housemates meant that he was resigned to partnering with whomever else the class chose to reject.

As he gazed around at his classmates he was startled by a light tapping on his shoulder, and to his immense surprise he glanced up into the emerald green eyes and messy black hair of none other than Boy Wonder himself.

"I guess neither of us have a partner this year." he smiled awkwardly.

Draco blinked slowly up at him, wondering what on earth he could have done to deserve this, "Are you sure you want me as a partner, Potter?" he asked softly, half hoping Harry wouldn't hear him.

"Why can't we just put the past behind us, Draco?" Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up even further.

Draco swallowed, tearing his eyes from Harry's bed head, and forcing himself to meet his eyes, "I tried to kill you." he whispered, narrowing his eyes.

"I know." he whispered back. "And I don't care." he held out his hand, "What do you say, Malfoy, friends?"

Draco stared at his outstretched fingers, "Let's start with Potions partners." Draco placed his textbook in Harry's open hand, and stood to fetch the rest of their ingredients from the cupboard, mentally berating himself as he went.

His face burned as he contemplated the year stretching before him; he had planned to stay as far away from Potter as physically possible, and now here he was signing himself up to daily interactions with the idiot. He shuddered, remembering the odd days they had double potions. Why he had signed up for this course, he suddenly couldn't recall.

Draco sighed as he located the last ingredient, resigning himself to returning to his bench. Halfway there he very nearly dropped his armload of supplies as he caught sight of Potter in the seat beside his. The dork was sitting there, smiling to himself as he flipped through Draco's textbook.

"What are you smiling at?" Draco frowned, plunking down the supplies beside their cauldron, and watching with a small twinge of satisfaction as Harry startled, glancing up at him in surprise.

"Oh, uhm..." he grinned sheepishly, "I was just reading your notes in the book. I didn't know you were such a potions nerd."

Draco felt his cheeks heat up for the second time, "Tch" he pursed his lips, choosing to pretend he wasn't the color of a cherry tomato, "I was simply getting ahead in the course work."

Harry just laughed, "Mhm, okay then."

"Shut up Potter." he replied, though his words lacked venom as he frowned at the positively cheerful person beside him. Why Potter was being this kind was beyond him. Perhaps he felt bad for the poor Death Eater boy with no friends and a bad attitude.

"Fine, fine, I'll drop it, just stop pouting so that we can get this potion done on time." Harry shook his head and began preparing the ingredients.

"I'm not pouting." Draco whispered, moving in to assist his partner, knowing Potter's abysmal history in potions.

"Yes you are." He whispered back, smirking as Draco glared at him.

Baffled, Draco spent the rest of the class mostly in silence, only speaking to correct Harry once or twice before he destroyed their entire batch.

"There. Done." Harry said proudly, placing the lid on their nearly completed potion, "Now we just have to come back in a few hours to stir it once or twice and it should be perfect."

Draco nodded, already gathering his things; this was their last period of the day and he was desperate for the peace and quiet of his common room, particularly devoid of Potters of any kind.

"I'll do it." He volunteered, "I'll be down here anyway."

Harry nodded, "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow then, I guess?"

Draco nodded yet again, not knowing how else to respond, and hurried quickly from the room.

At long last he made it to the sanctity of the Slytherin common room. He glanced around quickly for Pansy, not finding her however, he decided instead to take a quick nap before he had to go check on their potion.

It wasn't until several hours later that he was shaken out of a deep sleep by an irritating looking Pansy, that he realized how utterly exhausted he had been that day.

"I debated letting you sleep longer," she folded her arms, plopping down beside him on the bed, "you really need to get more sleep, Draco."

Draco drew his knees to his chest and draped his long arms over them, "I have better things to be doing with my time." he sighed.

She just rolled her eyes, "Yeah right, it's not like you have a boyfriend to be occupied with."

Draco frowned, regretting, for the millionth time, his decision to share his sexuality with her, "What are you implying?"

She shrugged innocently, raising her hands in self defense, "Look, all I'm saying is that you'd be happier if you found someone to spend time with, instead of scribbling in that potions book of yours for hours on end."

"But Pans, I have you to bug me about that." he pointed out, sighing as his flattery fell short and she simply arched an eyebrow at him, "Besides, who here would want to date me? I'm not exactly the best company at the moment, plus the fact that I'm an ex Death Eater..."

He scowled and rolled his eyes, though his voice betrayed his true uncertainty. Pansy caught on to this and hugged him rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"It's true you've been an insufferable sad sack these past few months, but you're not a bad person, Draco. You were forced to do the things you did; not many people could have gone through what you did with their wits intact." she leaned back and brushed his hair out of his face, "Anyone would be lucky to have you."

He nodded, thankful to have a friend like Pansy in his life.

Suddenly he sat bolt upright, eyes widened in horror, "The Amortentia!" he made to get out of bed, only to stumble and nearly fall to the floor, "I told Ha-... Potter that I would check on our potion."

"Potter? As in Harry Potter?"

"I'll explain later." he said hurriedly, "I need to go stir it before it coagulates and ruins my grade."

"Hmm, Draco Potter... Or maybe Harry Malfoy?" her thoughtful expression was enough to stop Draco in his tracks.

"Pansy -"

"I'm just saying, that's a cute match!" she defended, "The Boy Who Lived, and the ex Death Eater, reconciling past feuds with the bonds of love!"

"Ugh, Pansy, shut up." Draco groaned.

"Nonsense," she said, "it's a match made in heaven. And you stay put, mister." She placed a hand on his chest, "You need more sleep, and I'm headed that way anyway. I'll stir your stupid potion for you as long as you get a good night's sleep for once."

Draco sighed, knowing full well that this was not a battle he would win, "Fine, just stop with the 'Draco Potter' stuff, alright?"

"Yay," she hugged him, "I won't pester you, and I'll check on the potion, but if I come back here and find you with your nose in some book, I will personally flay you alive, got it?"

He nodded hurriedly, trying not to imagine being flayed alive by his best friend.

**Pansy P.O.V.**

Pansy hurried down the corridor, contemplating what she was about to do to her best friend.

 _It's not as though it's permanent, and besides, it'll be good for him to focus on something other than schoolwork and self hatred for a little while._ She rationalized to herself.

Slipping into the potions classroom, she was relieved to find it vacant as she stole over to where Draco had told her his cauldron was set up, pulling out a small vial as she went.

Cracking the lid she recognized the murky brown color of the nearly finished potion from a few years back. She gave it a few quick stirs and watched in amazement as the liquid turned from a gross muddy brown to radiant pink, and the intoxicating scent of her mother's perfume and freshly washed laundry wafted from the cauldron.

Smiling in victory, she ladled a miniscule amount of the swirling liquid into her vial, making sure to secure the stopper. She was turning to leave just as the sound of two arguing voices came into earshot.

Glancing around, she concluded the ingredients cupboard to be the most promising hiding spot, and managed to make it just as the door creaked open and the source of the voices entered and moved toward the back of the room, presumably to stir another one of the potions.

"I'm just saying, _Ronald,_ that he seems really down lately, and I feel bad now that we're together - "

"Yeah but 'Mione... If Harry wants to find someone then he will. It's not our place to meddle."

Pansy eavesdropped as she heard the lid of a cauldron thunk back into place and the two moved closer to the front of the room.

Another cauldron was opened, and she heard Hermione mutter, "Huh, I guess Harry was right... Malfoy did follow through."

"See?" Ron's voice replied, "If Malfoy can be trustworthy, then Harry can find himself a date. Besides, it's not as though we can just go around the Eighth year asking every bloke we come across, 'hey man, are you gay? Cause I've got the guy for you.'"

"Hush, Ron! What if someone hears you?"

"Harry doesn't care if people find out, he said it himself."

"That doesn't mean you can just go announcing it!"

"Relax, 'Mione." The door creaked shut behind the bickering couple, and Pansy could barely contain her excitement.

She had been joking earlier, teasing Draco about Potter, but this was just perfect! Not only could she solve Draco's melancholy, but now she would be the Gryffindors' savior as well!

...

The next morning Pansy had to practically roll Draco out of bed and into his clothes. She elected to ignore his muttered profanities as she lead a sleepy Draco by the hand toward the Great Hall, "You missed dinner last night, you can't miss breakfast as well!"

He rubbed at his eyes with his spare hand, "Pans, you know I just drink coffee in the morning."

This had been what she was counting on, though she decided to keep this tidbit of information to herself, as they entered the hall, immediately engulfed by the roar of voices emanating from every corner of the room.

"Wait here," she sat him down at one end of the table, purposefully away from the coffeepot, "I'll go get us something to drink, shall I?"

Slipping the potion into his drink was ridiculously easy, and Draco was so tired, he didn't even notice the difference.

"Uh, Pans?" Draco had an odd expression on his face, his now empty mug sitting innocently before him, "I feel this strange sort of... burning in my chest..."

"Huh," she mimed concern as he rubbed at his chest, "I wonder why."

Draco simply shrugged, "Whatever, it's gone now."

Pansy simply stared as he sat there, as nonchalant as usual, even having the audacity to appear bored as he stared though the great windows to the lake beyond, never so much as glancing at the Gryffindor table.

"You don't feel... anything?" She asked cautiously.

"Nope don't worry, it was nothing Pans, really." he shrugged running a hand through his hair, "you know I might go study in the library now that I'm up anyway. It is a Saturday after all."

"A-all right." Pansy frowned, wondering what she had done wrong. The potion had been the right color, confirmed by Granger herself. Perhaps coffee nullified the effects? But that couldn't be right...

She watched as Draco made his way toward the doors, passing the Golden Trio on his way, barely sparing Potter a sideways glance. All as per usual...

It hit her then.

 _Oh Draco..._ Of all the people to have a crush on.


	2. Part 2

**Harry P.O.V.**

"Come on, Harry, you have to admit you've been a bit sullen lately." Hermione had been berating him, yet again, to find a boyfriend. Harry knew she wouldn't have been nearly this insistent if she hadn't been feeling guilty about all the time she and Ron had been spending together since they became a couple.

Speaking of Ron, he shot a desperate glance toward his best friend hoping he at least would be on Harry’s side.

"Sorry mate," Ron shrugged apologetically, "you _have_ been kinda sad lately."

So much for friendship.

The three of them were just leaving breakfast in the Great Hall when Hermione had decided to start up her new favorite topic of "when will Harry find a boyfriend?"

If he hadn't already been completely hung up over someone, he would have found her antics to be no more than mildly irritating; however knowing she wouldn't back down until he either told her his crush, or found a boyfriend, her insistence was starting to grate on his nerves. Plus, there was no way he would ever admit out loud who his crush was.

"Harry watch out!"

Harry ducked just as a purple bolt of light shot past, just barely grazing his hair.

There was an epidemic running rampant through Hogwarts that year; some genius had invented a spell called the "Zap Curse," which, when struck with it, temporarily tattoos the name of its victim's crush on the palm of their hand. The name stays there until it is shown to the owner of said name.

Needless to say, Harry Potter seemed to be the prime target of every single girl in the school. It was to the point that Hermione and Ron had taken to glancing around corners for him whenever they walked through the halls.

The caster of this particular curse managed to disappear around to corner before the three of them could get a good look at who it was.

"Bloody hell, that's the fifth time this week." Ron shook his head in dismay.

"You'd think they would know better than to fire spells at a war veteran. Particularly you, Harry." Hermione muttered.

Harry said nothing. Part of him desperately avoided being hit, but the other part of him half wanted it to happen, just so that he would have an excuse to force himself to finally confess to his best friends exactly who he was crushing on.

Though, on second thought, he wasn't sure how his crush would react to his confession. Except to curse him out of his skin.

Harry sighed deeply, "I have to go talk to Ginny."

Hermione and Ron glanced at one another quickly before nodding and leaving Harry to track down the youngest Weasley. They both knew that he and Ginny had pretended to date one another to hide both of their sexualities, and since then Ginny had always been the most capable of helping Harry out with his love life.

After half an hour of searching, he finally found her in the library along with Luna and Neville.

"Hey." Harry approached their table.

Ginny's head immediately popped up, "Is that a "hey" hey, or a " _hey"_ hey?"

Harry couldn't help but smile at her ability to read him like a book, "It was a _"hey"_ hey."

"Sorry guys, duty calls." Ginny bid goodbye to Luna and Neville, who were busy pouring over a book on Herbology, and merely waved to recognize her sudden absence.

"I swear," Ginny rolled her eyes, "now that the two of them are dating it's like no one else exists."

"Tell me about it." Harry sighed, "Ron and Hermione are the same."

"Straight people." Ginny pretended to shake her head in disgust. Harry felt himself grinning back at her as they claimed a table in the more quiet section of the library.

"So... what's up?" She raised an eyebrow at him, and Harry shifted uncomfortably.

"Well you know how I have a crush on… that one person..." Harry began slowly, cautiously phrasing his thoughts.

"Oh yeah, how _is_ Malfoy?" Ginny smirked.

"Why don't you just announce it to the world?" Harry frowned, glancing around to be sure no one could hear them.

Ginny shook her head, "Relax, no one can hear us. Besides, it's not like anyone would believe their own ears if they did."

Ginny had figured out Harry's little crush in sixth year, back when she was the only one who knew he liked boys.

"I'm going to assume you came to me for advice on telling my brother and Hermione about Draco?" Ginny folded her arms, "You know what I think."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I know, but they've hated Malfoy for years, and I did too at one point. I can't just come out and say that I like him."

"But why not?" Ginny frowned, "They're your best friends, they might not understand, but they'll accept you anyway. Just like I did."

Harry smiled, remembering the horror he felt when she had waltzed up to him, as calm as could be, and announced that she knew he fancied Malfoy.

"That's different, and you know it." Harry sighed.

"It's not really." Ginny insisted, "You're just over thinking it."

"I know." Harry muttered miserably.

"You're obviously worked up about it, so why don't you sleep on it and get back to me tomorrow? I'll meet you here at noon and we can talk it out then."

Harry nodded, "Fine, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, thanks Gin."

He stood slowly and Ginny shot him an encouraging thumbs up.

**Ginny P.O.V.**

Ginny sighed as she watched him leave, feeling terrible for her best friend. Especially considering what she had just done.

"Alright," she called, "you can come out now."

**Pansy P.O.V.**

"Harry watch out!"

Pansy ducked around the corner, having missed her target, and sprinted away.

She had known it was a long shot; hitting Potter with the Zap Curse. But she had to know. For Draco's sake.

After running for a few minutes, she slowed down, waiting for her breath to catch up with her. Glancing around, she realized that she was somewhere near Ravenclaw tower... and the library. She vaguely remembered Draco mentioning wanting to study there earlier, and figured that finding him was as good a plan as any.

Upon reaching the library she glanced around, though Draco was nowhere in sight. _Probably forgot his book in the dormitory._ She rolled her eyes; he had been extremely absent minded lately. At least now she knew why.

She turned to leave when she caught sight of Ginny, sitting at one of the tables along with Longbottom and Lovegood _._ Pansy quickly recalled the rather close relationship that she and Potter seemed to have, and smiled as an idea began to formulate.

"Hey." Pansy strode over to their table, earning herself three strange glances.

"Um, hi Pansy." Ginny arched an eyebrow at her as if to say "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Uh..." Pansy cleared her throat, suddenly not so sure of herself, "I think we need to talk."

Ginny stared at her as if she had suddenly transformed into a blast-ended skrewt, "Okay."

Pansy led her into a quiet corner of the library, where she was sure they wouldn't be overheard.

"So..." she began awkwardly, trying to think of how to word her question.

"Look," Ginny interrupted, "if you're going to ask about Harry; no he and I are not dating, and no he would not be into you. Don't take it personally, you're just not really his... type."

Pansy stared at her before bursting into laughter, "Oh, I know." she said between fits of giggles, "apparently girls in general aren't really his type."

Ginny's eyes grew to the size of saucers, "How on earth did you -"

"I overheard Ron and Hermione talking about it." Pansy replied, "Don't worry though, his secret’s safe with me."

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know, at a price right?"

Pansy frowned, folding her arms across her chest, "Hey, just because I'm a Slytherin doesn't mean I'm a bitch. If I say Potter's secret is safe, then it's safe."

Ginny had the sense to look ashamed, "Sorry." she muttered, "It's just that a lot of you are that way."

"Oh believe me, I know." Pansy rolled her eyes, "We're ambitious, I just don't see why everyone thinks that's such a bad thing."

"I guess you're right." Ginny folded her arms, "So if you didn't come to me about Harry, then why are you here?"

"Actually, it _is_ about Harry." She smirked as Ginny's eyebrows shot up, "I need to know who he likes."

"Why?"

"For... um... a friend of mine." Pansy replied awkwardly, reluctant to betray Draco's trust, even if he had never implicitly told her himself. Which she was still pissed about.

To her immense surprise, Ginny's face broke out into a smirk, "If this "friend" is who I think it is... then we have our work cut out for us."

"Hm?"

"I can't tell you myself, but if you wait a few minutes, I'm about eighty percent sure that Harry will show up, and you might be surprised at what you might hear."

It wasn't ten minutes later that Harry showed up, looking distressed beyond measure, and asked to speak with Ginny…

“Alright, you can come out now."

"Oh my god!" Pansy burst out from behind the bookshelf, "We need to set them up right now this very second!"

Ginny held up her hands in a calming gesture, "Woah there. You heard what Harry said, we need to get him to confess to Ron and Hermione before we set them up."

"But if we set them up, then wouldn't it be easier for him to tell them?" Pansy frowned.

Ginny shook her head, "Believe me Pansy, I want to set them up just as bad as you do. I've had to listen to Harry whining for years, but I know that he won't do anything about it until he knows for sure that Ron and Hermione approve."

"What a push over." Pansy pouted.

Ginny sighed, "That's what I keep telling him."

"So how are we gonna do this then?" Pansy pondered different ways of convincing Boy Wonder to confess; quite a few of them employed the use of blackmail.

"We?" Ginny arched an eyebrow at her.

"Yes _we,_ " Pansy smiled, "we're in this together now, it's our mission to set them up."

Ginny gave her an odd look before nodding, "Deal. Let's set up our best friends."

"Yes! Now we just have to figure out how."

"What about a Zap Curse?"

Pansy frowned, "Tried that already."

At Ginny's curious glance, she explained how she had tried to curse Harry in the hallway.

"You've got guts, I'll admit that," Ginny chuckled, "But if you ever try to curse him again without my permission I _will_ turn you into a worm."

Pansy gulped, "Got it."

"I do think the curse has merit though." Ginny tapped a finger against her chin, "That way he'll have to show them before he shows Draco, not to mention it'll be extremely easy for me to hit him with the curse tomorrow when he comes to meet me here."

Pansy's eyes lit up, "Right, and then on Monday when they have potions together there's no way Draco won't notice it!"

Ginny burst out laughing, "No way, they're potions partners? No wonder he looked so distressed earlier."

"Yeah," Pansy joined in, "no wonder."


	3. the end

**Harry P.O.V.**

Harry wandered into the library a few minutes before noon the next day, ready to talk to Ginny, but when he got to their spot, he found it vacated.

_Whatever_ , he thought. He was early.

Luckily for him he wouldn't have to wait long; what he wasn't counting on however, was her cursing him from behind.

"Wha- Ginny!" he protested in horror, flipping his hand over to watch as "Draco Malfoy" was etched across his palm in loopy black handwriting.

"It's for your own good, Harry." Ginny sighed, avoiding his reproachful gaze, "Trust me when I say you won't regret it."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one with Draco bloody Malfoy tattooed across your hand!" Harry stormed from the library, knowing that there was no way he'd be able to keep it from Ron and Hermione now.

In fifth year, when Umbridge had tortured him with her demon quill it had taken Hermione what, like, three hours to notice? And that was without it being the result of a well known curse making its way around the school.

Harry cursed, pacing back and forth in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, holding his right hand in his left, carefully balling it up in a fist so that the writing wasn't visible.

"Harry?"

He wheeled around to come face to face with the two people he was trying his hardest to avoid. Ron seemed concerned, and Hermione on the verge of calling Madam Pomphrey.

Hermione of course immediately noticed as he attempted to hide his hands behind his back.

"You got hit by the curse, didn't you?"

He winced guiltily, and brought his hands out in front of him, still balled up in a fist, "Look," he began, "you're not going to like who it is..."

Hermione and Ron shared a knowing glance, "Harry," Hermione began, "no matter whose name is written on your hand, we won't judge you."

Ron nodded, "Yeah mate, no worries."

Harry took a deep breath and opened his hand.

They had barely glanced at the name on his hand before Ron threw up his arms in exasperation, "Unbelievable."

Hermione was smirking with one hand held out in front of her.

"Unbelievable." Ron was still muttering, and he deposited a galleon into his girlfriend's clutches.

"Wha- you bet on the fact that I had a crush on Malfoy!?" Harry demanded, his fears all but forgotten.

"Harry," Hermione was shaking her head, "we've had this bet going since sixth year."

"And just because I lost, doesn't mean I don't support you, mate." Ron jumped in.

Despite the injustice of the situation, Harry felt relief well up inside of him, "Thank you guys, for being so supportive."

They enveloped him in a bear hug, leaving no room for any sort of doubt that they truly supported him one hundred percent.

"Um, Harry?" Hermione broke away from the hug with a sudden thought, "What are you going to do in potions tomorrow?"

Harry's eyes widened in horror, "Shit."

**Draco P.O.V.**

Draco sat glumly in the potions room the next Monday, waiting for his partner to show up, almost hoping Potter would have the decency to be ill.

"Hey." The partner in question plunked his stuff down beside Draco's, and settled himself into his seat.

Draco nodded in greeting, noting the odd appearance of bandages covering Harry's right hand, "What happened?"

"Oh, um..." Harry jumped and held up his hand awkwardly, "I was helping Hagrid with his latest batch of skrewts."

"Oh." Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I thought you had been hit by that Zap Curse that's going around."

Harry's hand twitched and he dropped the vial he was holding, which promptly shattered against the floor, thankfully devoid of potion.

"Sorry." Harry muttered before stooping to clean it up.

Draco frowned, he definitely hadn't missed Harry's reaction to the words "Zap Curse."

There was no way...

After the shards of glass were cleaned from the floor, Draco and Harry went back to working on their potion; this time a sleeping draught, as Slughorn was keeping with his theme of review.

After a few minutes, Draco casually dropped a vial, this time filled with snake venom from the desk. Sure enough, Potter's seeker reflexes kicked in and his hand swooped down to save the vial.

It took a few moments for him to realize his mistake as Draco studied his reaction carefully.

"I... erm..." Harry stammered.

"Relax." Draco rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to ask whose name it is."

"...Thanks." Harry muttered softly.

Draco nodded, taking the vial from him and adding the venom to the potion.

They spent the rest of the class in companionable silence; Harry being especially careful to not use his "injured" hand for anything else, and Draco furiously attempting to deduce whose name was concealed beneath the bandages.

At the end of the lesson, Harry stepped in front of Draco, blocking his path to the door, "Um, so I would appreciate it greatly if you could... um..."

"I won't tell anyone." Draco studied Harry's expression, "I can see why you of all people wouldn't want word to get out."

"Thanks." Harry grinned, and Draco wanted to rip his heart out and scream at it to shut the fuck up.

"No problem." He muttered, half to himself, as Harry turned to leave the dungeon.

**Harry P.O.V.**

"He noticed."

Ginny glanced up from her book as Harry slammed his stuff down on the table in front of her, earning himself a ferocious glare from Madam Pince.

"Of course he noticed, that's kind of the point." she rolled her eyes, "What did he say?"

"Nothing." Harry replied smugly, holding up his heavily bandaged hand.

Ginny cursed, "This is Hermione's work, isn't it? At least you told them."

"Yeah, they took it extremely well..." Harry smiled, "Did you know they had a bet on whether or not it was Malfoy?"

Ginny nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, I told Hermione she should make it ten galleons."

Harry thumped his head down onto the table in frustration, "You are all horrible."

"I know." Ginny replied soothingly, running her fingers through his hair.

"What am I going to do?" he moaned miserably, still addressing the table.

"Go up to him, unwind the bandage, and rub his name in his face." Ginny chuckled, "You never know, he might kiss you on the spot."

"Not funny." Harry muttered.

"Oh look, there he is now."

Harry's head shot up so fast his neck cracked. Sure enough, there Draco was, two tables away, in a corner of the library partly concealed behind a bookshelf.

"Go." Ginny urged him.

"You're insane." He stared at her incredulously.

"No I'm not, now go." she shoved him out of his chair, and made a shooing motion with her hands.

Harry sighed, knowing he was never going to win that battle, and trudged over to where Draco sat, carefully annotating the margins of his potions book.

Harry couldn't help but smile wryly at this.

"You know," he began, as he sat down directly in front of Draco, watching as the Slytherin startled, nearly spilling his ink bottle over his work, "Professor Snape used to do that as well."

Draco stared at him in confusion, "How do you know -"

"Remember sixth year, how I suddenly got really good at potions really fast?" Harry explained the Half Blood Prince's book, and how it had belonged to Snape.

Draco stared down at his book, his eyes softening, "Thank you for sharing that story about my godfather with me." he mumbled.

Harry mentally kicked himself for bringing up a sad story about a dead man to the boy he was trying to flirt with.

"Yeah." Was the intelligent reply that Harry came up with.

"So..." Draco cleared his throat, "What are you doing here?"

"I just... uh..." Harry sighed in defeat, "I wanted to ask if you want to know the name on my hand."

Draco's eyes widened in surprise before suspicion took over, "And why would you want to show me?"

"Because," Harry replied, unwinding the bandage, "it's yours."

Draco stared uncomprehendingly at his own name tattooed intricately across the Harry's palm, watching as it slowly faded back into his skin.

"Wh- you- I-" Draco stuttered, as Harry sat before him, experiencing an odd sensation of both relief and mortal terror at the same time.

"Draco, I'm sorry for springing it on you like - "

He was cut off by Draco's hand across his mouth, "Shut up Potter."

Draco seemed to be struggling with some sort of internal battle, before he finally looked up into Harry's eyes and whispered a simple, "Why?"

Harry smiled underneath Draco's hand, and reached up to remove it, "Because."

And with that he leaned over and lifted Draco's mouth to his, and Draco responded enthusiastically, winding his hand through Harry's hair.

Suddenly he pulled away, turning his head sharply to the left, "Come out now." he demanded to the bookshelf.

Sure enough, out stepped a highly embarrassed looking Pansy, and a highly triumphant looking Ginny.

"I told you Harry." she rolled her eyes, " You really ought to put more trust in my advice."

"Draco, you never told me! I had to figure it out on my own." Pansy complained, folding her arms.

Harry and Draco shared a look, each apologizing for their friends, before bursting out laughing at the sheer cliché-ness of the whole situation.

"The only thing this situation needs now," Draco smirked, "is for you two to declare that you're both secretly gay for each other."

Ginny and Pansy glanced at one another and shook their heads, "In your dreams, Malfoy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp here it is, I hope you liked my story! I you feel like it please leave a comment down below, just anything you liked, didn't like, wanted to see more of etc. Constructive criticism is always welcome!


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